Meet Sarah Smith, candidate for WA-09.
Like so many in the 9th, I’m a middle class working woman and wife, living in Kent, trying to keep up with a mortgage payment and student loan bills. I’ve worked any job I could to keep that roof over my head today. I’ve been a foreclosure specialist, a paralegal and a liability negotiator. Today I work full-time as an administrative coordinator for a small business.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been socially, if not politically, engaged. I’ve marched, donated, served and organized for Planned Parenthood, the World Wildlife Fund and the Humane Society. Through the years I’ve worked with refugees, Indian-Americans, young girls and feminist groups.
Working families like ours have lived on the edge of disaster for a long time. Yet despite all the times Congress has threatened the social safety net that helps people get their lives back on track, the net was always there. There were holes in that net, to be sure. That’s why I’ve helped coordinate food drives to aid families impacted by program cuts. But the net was still there. That all seemed to change November 8th, 2016. The 115th Congress is more hostile to the needs of working families than I’ve seen in my lifetime. It was, for me, an awakening, and I knew it was time to abandon my armchair liberalism and get involved.
Sarah on what is wrong with the current Democratic party:
Just a small portion of Sarah’s Policy Platform:
PROVIDE ALL AMERICANS WITH HEALTHCARE THROUGH MEDICARE
This will include high-quality general, dental, vision, and mental health coverage. Medicare is more efficient than any private insurance provider and is accepted by 95% of doctors. Under our plan, private insurance companies will be allowed to compete with each other in a truly free market to offer supplemental insurance plans.
INCREASE THE NUMBER OF DOCTORS, CLINICS AND HOSPITALS
We have a shortage of doctors and health care facilities in America today. In rural areas, it can be almost impossible to see even a general practitioner let alone a specialist. The American Medical Association currently restricts the number of doctors who are admitted to medical school and the number of foreign trained doctors who can be certified to practice in America. They do this to ensure higher salaries for doctors. We believe doctors are incredibly valuable members of our communities and economy and should be paid well — and they should not have to create shortages to raise their wages!
END THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE
Many children go to schools with aggressive zero-tolerance disciplinary practices, which are directly tied to Congressional funding requirements. These policies often result in suspension or expulsion for students with disciplinary issues — pushing them out of school and into the criminal justice system. Not only does this leave children without the resources they need to succeed, but it also creates antagonism between children and authority figures, contributing to the likelihood of their incarceration.
GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS ONCE AND FOR ALL
We will reform our electoral system to create a more perfect democracy: This will include removing money from politics, getting rid of the electoral college, investigating alternative voting systems such as ranked choice voting, and making election day a national holiday. In addition, we must improve the actual mechanics of voting to make it easier to vote and to defend against electoral fraud.
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